Hermine leaves little damage

A Nissan Maxima parked in the driveway at 2606 E. Airline is pinned down by the large branches of a fallen tree caused by the first wave of Tropical Storm Hermine.

Tropical Storm Hermine came and went Tuesday morning, leaving few reminders of its hard-hitting presence.

Victoria residents reported minor street flooding, downed trees and debris in the road - which are things the city's emergency management coordinator, Jeb Lacey, said are to be expected from a storm like Hermine.

"Obviously, it was a quick-developing event," Lacey said. "I wouldn't say anything was abnormal or out of the ordinary."

While isolated areas may have seen more rain, the Victoria airport reported 3.7 inches, most of which fell between 4 and 9 a.m., according to Zach Finch, a forecaster for the National Weather Service.

Finch said the Crossroads area didn't report many problems from the storm because it moved fairly quickly at 20 mph.

"It keeps rain moving along with the system, so it limits the potential for flooding a bit," Finch said.

Lacey said the only real concerns were flash flood warnings for Garcitas and Coleto creeks.

However, wind gusts that reached up to 45 mph did cause some problems.

Manuel Cuellar, 26, said he heard a thunderous noise at 5:30 a.m. and walked out of his garage to see a tree had fallen on his car.

Besides struggling with getting insurance to pay for the damage, Cuellar said, "I'm wondering how I'm going to get this tree off."

Cuellar said he was surprised by the damage he endured from a small storm like Tropical Storm Hermine, which left most Crossroads counties alone.

Calhoun County's emergency management coordinator, Ladonna Thigpen, said a few roads in the county were under water, but that most of it drained off as it came in.

Stan Upton, emergency management coordinator for Refugio County, said the area should see runoff from the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers in the days to come, but he doesn't expect the rivers to reach flood stage.

"The good thing is the ground around here and other places weren't saturated," Upton said. "Some places really needed rain."

Lacey said Hermine should remind families to be aware of the waters.

"We're actually moving into the peak (of hurricane season)," he said. "We need to be prepared."

Tropical Storm Hermine was downgraded to a tropical depression about 7 p.m. Tuesday as it continued moving northwest across the state, Finch said.